Cleveland Indians: Trevor Bauer needs to be in the 2018 All-Star Game

The Cleveland Indians have some locks for the 2018 All-Star Game. Trevor Bauer deserves to be one of these locks after the start he has had.

Jose Ramirez and Corey Kluber should be automatic selections to represent the Cleveland Indians in the 2018 MLB All-Star Game. So should Trevor Bauer.

Bauer is now tied with Chris Sale for the American League lead in strikeouts with 140. His 2.44 ERA is fourth-best in the AL.

Bauer has been on fire all year, but has really turned things up in June. So far this month he has logged 34.2 innings. In that time he has struck out 54 batters and has only walked 10. By comparison, Kluber only has 25 strikeouts in 27 innings. That is still an amazing stat, which shows just how great Bauer has been.

2017 was the year in which Bauer set a new career high in strikeouts with 196 in 176.1 innings. He may break that mark before the end of July this year.

The great thing is that Bauer is striking out all these batters and still getting deep into games. His shortest start of the month came on June 2 when he went 5.2 innings. He struck out 11 in a 7-1 loss.

Another crazy stat from Bauer that may mean he belongs in another era is that he has thrown at least 100 pitches in every start. That is partially due to the lack of trust in the bullpen but also because he is conditioned well enough to go deep into games. He frequently says he would pitch more often if he was allowed to and based on what he has done, he could probably do it.

All of his stats combined should make him an easy choice for the All-Star Game. Kluber, Justin Verlander, Chris Sale and Luis Severino should all be locks based on dominating on the best teams in the AL. After that, Bauer slots in as the next best pitcher. I don’t even think it’s close.

If he keeps this up he will put his name in the AL Cy Young conversation before long as well. So with all the problems the team has dealt with so far, there are still two Cy Young candidates on the staff and one clear favorite for MVP in Jose Ramirez.

The team should also have a minimum of three or four All-Stars and enter today with a seven-game lead in the AL Central.

Next: Who will be the next big call-up from Columbus?

Things seem to be turning around for the Indians, thanks to the play of Bauer and the other stars of this team.